Glucosamine is a nutraceutical supplement that has been shown to provide significant therapeutic relief for arthritis and joint pain. Although the mechanism is not entirely known, it is believed that glucosamine functions to aid in restoration of the cartilage to relieve inflammation in the joints, thereby providing significant benefit to users. N-acetylglucosamine is useful for various applications such as food additives and for use in cosmetics and pharmaceutical compositions.
Presently, glucosamine is primarily derived from harvested natural sources, such as shellfish and other aquatic organisms. Chitin from the shell or exoskeleton of these organisms is converted into glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine using various production techniques. These natural sources are acceptable for producing glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine for some applications, but they have limitations. These limitations include the fact that wild shellfish can have significant variations in their shell composition because they grow naturally under uncontrolled circumstances. The shellfish can vary in such aspects as their size and composition depending upon the growing conditions as well as their species. Also, without control over the growing conditions, the shellfish can be exposed to environmental contaminants, including heavy metals, that can be retained in glucosamine, N-acetylglucosamine or other products derived or produced from the shellfish. Shellfish harvests are often seasonal, and thus the supply and price of shellfish shows significant variation over time.
A further concern with glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine derived from shellfish is that significant portions of the human population have shellfish allergies and are unable to use products that contain ingredients derived from shellfish. A large percentage of shellfish allergens are specific proteins. Shellfish allergens, such as muscle proteins (e.g., tropomyosin) are found in glucosamine derived from the shellfish sources. It is not economically practical, if even possible to ensure that glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine products derived from shellfish sources are completely free of all traces of shellfish allergens. Thus, hyper allergenic individuals who must avoid all shellfish products cannot ingest materials derived from shellfish, such as glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine.
An additional problem associated with existing sources of shellfish-derived glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine is that some of the shellfish supply is harvested from the seas and oceans of the world. Excessive harvest of shellfish could have a great negative environmental impact. Thus, it is believed that some consumers would prefer to use glucosamine that is not harvested at the expense of sea life. Even if the environmental impact of harvesting shellfish is not negative, there remains concern that the supply of wild shellfish is limited in quantity and inconsistent in quality from year to year.
Another problem associated with glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine compositions derived from shellfish is that such compositions are not “kosher.” “Kosher” means fit or proper, and is generally used to describe foods that are prepared in accordance with special Jewish dietary laws. Many people that practice Judaism will only ingest kosher products. All shellfish are non-kosher foods and thus all products derived from shellfish are not immediately considered kosher. For certain medicinal applications, a shellfish glucosamine product can receive special dispensation such that it is considered kosher. Specially dispensed kosher shellfish-derived glucosamine may be used for medicinal applications only and even then may only be ingested in pill or tablet form. Accordingly, “fully certified kosher” glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine compositions (i.e., kosher products not requiring special dispensation or restricted to medicinal uses in pill or tablet form) are needed. Likewise, many vegans require animal-product free glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine compositions such that glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine compositions derived from shellfish do not meet their dietary needs.
Therefore, a need exists for a source of safe, kosher, non-animal product derived, high-quality glucosamine and/or N-acetylglucosamine compositions that can be created economically and with minimal environmental impact.
In addition, fungal sources to produce glucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine contain β-glucans and other components. β-Glucans are polymers of glucose containing glycosidic bonds between the glucose units. β-Glucans are glucans where the glycosidic bonds are predominantly β linkages. The β-glucans in these sources comprise β-1,3-glucans, as well as β-1,4 and β-1,6 glycosidic bonds and branches comprising β-1,3,6 glycosidic linkages. The types and number of the glycosidic linkages depends to a large extent on the source of the β-glucans. For example, yeast sources of β-glucans have not been reported to include β-glucans having the β-1,4 linkages.
β-glucans are naturally insoluble in water, acidic or basic solutions, or in organic solvents. A number of processes for the isolation and purification of β-glucans have been developed. The known methods, however, use hot alkali, acids, or a combination of both to solubilize proteins and other components of the biomass, leaving the insoluble β-glucans. The acid or base must then be removed from the insoluble β-glucans by washing with water. The high water-absorbing capacity of β-glucans causes them to swell significantly, making this step difficult and tedious.
The digestibility or applicability of β-glucans from these sources is limited by their insolubility. Converting β-glucans to soluble forms has required uses of acids, bases, or oxidizing agents to break down the polymers into smaller polymers to render them soluble. These same chemical agents can have adverse effects on the glucose units, such as oxidizing the alcohol to aldehyde or acid forms. This is disadvantageous not only because β-glucan applications prefer β-glucans that are not chemically altered but also because such oxidations are difficult to control precisely. Further, chemical treatments require additional purification steps to remove the acids, bases, or oxidizing agents. A process requiring a minimal chemical treatment and minimal or no chemical structure change to the β-glucan structure are desirable.
To keep the native structure of the β-glucans while rendering the β-glucans water soluble by, e.g., controlling molecular weight there is a need for a mild manufacturing process in which β-glucan is not degraded or chemically altered during the process, a sufficient yield of β-glucan is obtained and undesirable components such as proteins, lipids, other polysaccharides as well as other undesirable components in the β-glucan source are removed from the β-glucan compositions.
Nonetheless, β-glucans are recently in demand for a variety of applications such as immunostimulants for animal feed use, immunostimulants, and/or cholesterol treatments, and/or as ingestible fiber sources for human use, as treatment for agriculture, and for use in skin treatment products such as moisturizers.
The mechanism of the effect of β-glucans, and β-1,3-D-glucans in particular, is not yet fully understood but appears to depend upon, in part, the specific molecular structure, which is influenced by the molecular weight and the solubility of the polymers. Certain β-glucans have been found to be more effective than others, with β-1,3-D-glucans being especially effective.